Device for controlling pressures in oil wells



B. S. MINOR Filed June 9, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTOR EY.

Dec. 6, 1932.

DEVICE FOR commune PRESSURES IN OIL WELLS Dec. 6, 1932. B. s. MINORDEVICE FOR CONTROLLING PRESSURES IN OIL WELLS Filed June 9. 1926 2Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VENTOR.

BuRr- MINOR ATTORNEY.

mechanism described and claimed: in my ap Patented Dec. 6, 1932 UNITEDSTATES. PATENT oF'FIc-Ef Application, filed June 9, 1926. Serial No.114,605.

This invention refers more specifically to oil Well packing mechanismsfor controlling excessive gas or fluid pressures in oilwells and relatesto improvements in a packing locking ring for locking the same to theeasing head member. Formed on theinterior 1 surface-of the casing headmemberdirectly above the vented openings is an annular seat for thereception of'thepacking mechanism. This mechanism is here shown asconsisting of a pair of apertured metallic disk members, and anapertured disk member formedof a compressible material interposedtherebetween, the lower disk member being normally disposed upon theannular seat formed, on the head member. Extending downwardly from theupper end of the tubular member and? on its interior surface are aplurality of plication for U. S; Letters Patent entitled Blow-out devicefor oil wells bearing Serial No. 80,439 filed in the U. S. Patent OfiiceJanuary 11, 1926.

In the above application I described and illustrated a packing mechanismmounted in the well casing head adapted to be expanded to pack offthewell casing and drill stem by impact of an annular abutment formed onthe drill stem. Such mechanism has proven satisfactory in Well drillingoperations with the single exception that the in.- sertion and removalof the packing mecha nism to and from the head has entailed considerablelabor and consequentloss of time.

In my improved device the packing mechanism may be quickly guided intoseated position within the casing head, and by the provision of alocking ring rotatably and deta'chably secured to the head, the packingmechanism can be securely locked therein, ormay 'beas quickly removedtherefrom without detaching the lockingring.

An important object ofthis invention is to provide a packing .mechanismfor casing heads that may be quickly locked into position in the head,and as readily removed therefrom when it is desired to withdraw th stemwith its bit from the well. v A further object is to provide a packingmechanism for casing heads in Which means are provided forpreventing itsaccidental rotation during a drilling operation.

A still'further object is to provide'a means on the packing mechanismlocking ringfor automatically guiding the packing mechanism into aseated position within the casing head when the same is lowered intoposition.

Briefly, the invention consists of a vented casing head member adaptedto be detachably secured to the upper end of astring of well casing. Theupper endof this member 0 is provided with a plurality of offset lockvpag h 't p 1t1 thelugs wlth ing lugs equally spaced apart and adapted torespectto the1r seats on the caslnghead. 'co-operate with similar lugsformed on a thedrawmgs whereln certain embod 1100 gaged by V shaped lugsformed on theedge oftheupper metallic disk; member, the seated lugspreventing an accidental rotation of the packing mechanism during adrilling operlocking ringv is formed a plurality of lugs equally spacedapart adapted .to engage-the upper endsof the V shaped lugs formed onthe upper metal disk of the packing mechajnism'iwhen the ring is.rotatedto-lockthe packing mechanism in the casing head. 7 The drill stemand kelly attach d to the upper end thereof pass through the diskapertures, and the packing mechanism is'adapted to be engaged byanannular-abutment formed on J the drill stem when the sameispulled up,-wardly thereagainst to expand thecompres sible disk into. fluid tight,engagement with the stem and the head-on the developmentof anexcess'pressure rin the well. I, y a In orderto position the V. shapedlugs formed on the upper metallic disk members with respect to theirseats formed ,on vthe casing head, a ,plurality of positioning lugs ofinverted V shape are formed on theupper face of the locking ring. Bymeans ofthese lugs the V shaped locking lugs formed on the uppermetallic disk member, the packing disk is rotated and the lugs areguided into (.95 the seats of the casing head, thus avoiding thenecessity of manually rotating the heavy V shaped recesses, or seatsadapted to be-en- 5 V ation. Around the circular opening in the F mentsof the invention are disclosed by way of example: I

Fig. l is a central vertical section through the casing head showing thepacking mechanism in unexpanded position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the packing mechanism expanded.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device with the locking ring rotated to anunlockedposition.

Fig. 4 is a similar view with the locking ring rotated to a lockedposition.

5--5 of Fig. 1 with the locking to an unlocked position.

Fig. 6 is a central vertical section through the'casinghead with thedrill stemand packing; mechanism removed. 'Fig'. 7 is a side elevationof the paclnng mechanism.

Fig. 8 is' a: transversesection through the casing headtakenzon line 88of Fig. 1.

V Fig. 9'is an enlarged detail-sectional view oflthe upper wall of thecasing head showing the means for rotating the locking ring andpreventing its detachment from the head. Referring more specifically tothe drawings 1O designates a tubular casing head, interiorly threaded onits lower end for attach ment totihe upper threaded end of a stringofwell casing. This head is provided with a pair of internally threadedopenings 11, 12 for the reception of the usual pipe lines (not shown)and directly above these openings is an annular seat 13, for thereception of the packing mechanism. The upper end of the casing head isprovided with a plurality of segmental outwardly extending locking lugs14, equally spaced apartadapted to co-operate with similar inwardlyprojecting lugs 1'5 formed on the downwardly extending circular flange16, of a flat detachable locking ring rotated ring 17,'the length ofsaid ,lugs being slightly less than the space between the lugs 14 formedon the casing head in-order that the lugs '15 may freely passtherebetween: Thelugs 15 are disposed in a plane directly below the lugsl4,"so that when the ring is rotated to a locked position the lugs willregister with and engage the lugs 14; tolock the ring tothe lockinghead. Formedaround the inner circular edge ofthe flat ring 17 are aplurality of segmental lugs 18 equally spaced apart designed to formabutment-s for the lugs on the upper metal disk of the packing mechanismwhen the drill stem is drawn upwardly to expand the packing disk on adevelopment of an unexpected or excessive pressure, and

'to lock the packing mechanism within the head.

' The'packing mechanism preferably consists of a plurality ofap'er'tured rings d1sposed one upon another, the lower metal ring 20having a convexed uppersurface and a conical'external portion 19, whilethe upper metal ring 21, is convexed on its lower face. The packing ring22 is formed of an elastic material such as rubber and is concaved onits upper and lower faces, the convexed surfaces of the metal ringssnugly nesting within the concavities of the packing ring. Detachablysecured to the oppositely disposed ends ofthe drill pipe 23 and" thekelly 24 is a shorthollow sleeve 25 provided at its lower end with anannular abutment 26 adapted to engage and contact with the lower metaldisk Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on line,

When the'drill stem and packing mechanism connected thereto is loweredinto the well casing the locking lugs 31 formed on the upper metal diskmember are oftentimes out of alinement with their seats formed onthe-casing head, and as the packing disks are of heavy construction and'difiicult to rotate 'manually, a positioning or guiding means has beendevised for automatically rotating the disk member to guide thelugs'formed thereon into their seats. This guiding means 1s here shownas consisting of a plurality of inverted V shaped lugs 32 formedintegrally with the upper face, of locking ring 17, the lugsbeing-disposed between some of the re.- cesses 30 of the locking ring.vDuring a lower- 1ng operation of the drill stem should the lugs 31 ofthe disk 21 be out of alinement with their seats formed on the casinghead, the moment the pointed ends of the lugs of the disk member engagesthe lugs 32 their inclined surfaces .33will rotate the disk 21 and guidethe lugs 131 into: their seated position. Byforming a conical externalsurface 19 on tlie lowermetal packing ring 20 it will be apparent thatthe packing mechanism'may be easily guided into position within the headwhen the'drill stem'is lowered into the well casing. V

Locking ring 17 is provided with a pair of oppositely disposed handles35 that are attached to the flange 16 of the ring in order that the ringmay be easily rotated to a locked or unlockedposition, the inner ends 36of the handles projecting beyond the inner peripheral surface of theflange 16 engage the under 7 surface of the lugs 14 when the ring isrotated to an unlocked position to prevent the accidental detachment ofthe ring 17 from the head on a withdrawalof the packing mechanism fromthe well casing.

The outer surface of the casing head is provided with a pair of stops40, in the form of lugs, and the locking ring is provided with a lug 41formed integrally with the under surface of one of the ring locking lugs15. By means of the above the ring 17 may be rotated readily into alocked or unlocked position, the stops limiting its movement in eitherdirection of rotation.

From the above description it will be apparent that the drill stem withthe packing mechanism may be readily inserted within the wall casing,and as easily removed therefrom without the necessity ofunscrewingcollars or other mechanism from the casing head, as in my formerconstruction.

The operation of the packing mechanism is substantially as follows. Thepacking mechanism which consists of the metallic rings with an elasticring interposed therebetween is mountedon the drill stem, and the ring17 is rotated to bring the lugs 18 out ofregister .with the lugs 31 onthe upper metal packing disk. The bit and drill stem with the packingmechanism is then lowered downwardly into the well casing, the lowermetal disk of the packing mechanism resting on the annular inner flange13 of the head and the lugs 31 of the upper metal ring resting in therecesses at the top of the head, the locking ring is then rotated in areverse direction to bring the lugs 18 into register with the lugs 31 tolock the packing mechanism in the head. The drill stem is then rotatedin the usual manner, and when an excess fluid pressure is encountered inthe drilling operation the stem is drawn rapidly upward out of the welluntil the annular abutment 26 of the sleeve contacts with the lowersurface of the metallic ring 21 to expand the elastic member 22 intopacked relation with the head and sleeve as clearly shown in Fig. 2 ofthe drawings. WVhen the casing head and stem have been packed off tocontrol the excess pressure of the well semifluid mud of a denserconsistency than the mud usually employed in drilling operations isforced downwardly under pressure through the hollow drill stem into thewell above the excess pressure to control same. The introduction of theheavy semi-fluid mud in the well is usually sufficient to control anypremature blow-out, the mud circulation being controlled through thevalve outlets 11 and 12 in the casing head. As soon as the excesspressure has been sufiiciently controlled the stem may be again loweredinto the well and drilling operation resumed.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a well drilling mechanism provided with anabutment, of a vented casing head having a plurality of seats formedaround the upper end thereof, said head adapted to be detachably securedto the upper end of a string of well casing, a packing mechanismincluding a pair of aperwithin'said head, and means formed on said ringfor guiding the, offset lugs on the upper disk member into the seatsformed on the casing head when the drilling mechanism is loweredinto thewell. 1

2. In combination with a drilling mechanism including a stem having anannular abutment formed thereof, of a vented casing head having anannular seat formed above the vents therein and a plurality of bearing 1seats around its interior upper end, an expansible packing mechanismcomprising a pair of metallic disks and an expansible disk interposedtherebetween, the lower of said disks engaging thevannular seat of thecasing head, the upper disk being provided with a plurality of bearinglugs each having inclined surfaces adapted to engage the seats formed onthe casinghead, a locking ring detachably secured to the upper end ofsaid casing head, said ring being provided with a plurality of offsetlugs around its inner periphery adapted to engage and register with thelugs formed on the upper disk member of the packing machanism to locksaid mechanism within said casing head, and a plurality of positioninglugs each having inclined surfaces formed on the'upper face of thelocking ring around its opening and in register with the oflsetlugs,whereby when the packing mechanism is lowered into the casing head thepositioning lugs on the locking ring will rotate the upper packing ringand guide the lugs formed thereon into their seats on the casing head. 7

3. A packing mechanism for oil well casing heads comprising an openended vented body member adaptedfor attachment to an upper string of oilwell casing, a compressible packmg mechanism disposed in'the upper endof said head above the vents, said packing inechanism being providedwith openings therecompress the packing around said meansto form a seal,and amechanism carried by the upper end of said head for holding thepacking mechanism against upward movement.

4. A packing mechanism for oil well casing heads comprising an openended head adapt through to permit of the free passage of the a ed to bemounted on a casing having a drill stem and kelly" bar disposed therein,a compressible packing member mounted in the upper: end of said head, adetachable abutment member having a cylindrical portion securedbetweenthe drill stem and kelly for compressing the packing around thecylindrical portion of the abutment member on an upward movement of thedrill stem, and means secured to the upper end of said head for holdingthepacking mechanism against upward movement.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 24th dayof May, 1926. V

p BURT SPMINOR.

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